Vehicle fender and brake



July 28, 1931. J. COLOMBO 1,816,005

VEHICLE FENDER AND BRAKE Filed Jan. 29, 1951 INVENTOR.

- w W. BY @MW 1 ATTO RN EY- Patented July 28, 193i I'UNITED STATES PATENT orrics JOHN COLOMBO, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK, ASQIGNOR F THREE-FOURTHS TO GIUSE-PPI, SIGILIANO, SAMUEL PIRO, AND FRANK L0 BRANGKO, 0F YORK, PENNSYLVANIA VEHICLE rnrmnnnnn BRAKE Application filed January 29, 1931. Serial 1 To.-512,023.

This invention relates .to a combined fender and brake, designed for use in connection with automobiles, and the like, and has for its object to provide alo'w-swung fender to be mounted transversely across the front of the vehicle so as to overlap the two forward wheels, the ends of said fender being supported by the corresponding mudguards, and the medial portion of the fender being 1o braced and stiffened by means directly connected with the forward axle of the vehicle. A further object is to provide a low-swung fender of this class which is arranged to fend off or brush to one side or the other from the path of the vehicle grown-up persons, children or other living things that happen to be knocked down by the vehicle,

in order to prevent or at least. to greatly minimize the danger of crushing and further injurin'g the sprawling bodies or limbs by the latter being run over by the wheels. A further object is to so mount the present fenderthatin case of collision with relatively heavy objects, the force of the initial 26 gage, like brakeshoes, the treads of the tires of the front wheels for stopping or materially slowing down the vehicle before serious damage or in ury is inflicted.

The various features and parts of the invention will be understood from the detailed description which follows, and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-'- Figure 1 is a front elevation of an automobile to which my low-swung fender is applied. Fig. 2 is a broken side elevation and partial central vertical longitudinal section, the latter being taken substantially on' ing the fender hangers and the ends of the mudguards flexed for engaging and braking the front wheels and stoppingor retarding the vehicle.

5o In the drawings, 2 represents an automo impact tends to flex the end supports of the fender and cause them to frictionally enbile having a'body 2, front wheels 2a, front axle 2b, and forward mudguards 20.

represents my fender comprising a bar of steel or other suitable metal which is preferably longer than the gauge of the wheels Qa. and disposed horizontally and overlapping said wheels. The fender 3 is virtually suspended from the mudguards 20 by areshaped preferably substantially flat metal hangers or members 4, whose top ends are shown riveted or bolted, as at l, to the under sides of the mudguards 20, and the hangers preferably coincide with and par tially overlie the treads 2a: of the wheels 2a. The lower endsof the hangers ii: are preferably slotted, as at 4a, to receive bolts l0 which also pass through perforations near the opposite ends of the fender 3. This'enables the fender to be adjusted towards and away from the roadway as A. The fender is preferably supported and reinforced medially by angular relatively stiff spring metal braces 5, whose rear ends are pivoted by a pin 6 between forwardly projecting perforated lugs 7, of a bracket 7, the latter being bolted to the axle 2b. Hinging the braces 5, as shown in the drawings, enables the fender to be raised and lowered within a short" range without requiring any particular readjustment of the supporting parts and without cramping the fender to an in jurious extent. The mudguards 20 are usually more or less flexible, and whenv the hangers 4 are properly formed, the guards normally space the fender from the tires, as 2d, as shown in Fig.3, and in case the fender encounters a heavy or stout resisting body, this flexibility allows the members 4 to yield or move rearwardly against the tires 2d, as shown in Fig. 4:, to brake the wheels 2a and either stop or slow down the speed of the vehicle, thereby lessening the danger of further injuring persons or objects with, which the vehicle may collide. The forward ends 5 of the braces 5, are preferably spread apart and are also bent toward each other, as at 5a, parallel to the fender, and these bent portions may be riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the fender 3 as shown. The fender is preferably ing "a 'lrori'zonta-lly disposed "'bar low-swun low-swung and normally spaced three or four inches from the surface of the roadway 01- pavement, so as to fend off relatively small bodies such as the arms and legs of persons; fo'Wls,-dogs, or other movable obstrucfi'ons and prevent tllei'n lfnmnlbeingrun over by the wheels 2a.

Having thus described my invention, What 1. A lowsswung .-fender for automobiles comprising a horizontal bar haying a length v greater than the gauge of the front'wheels, flexible hangers carried by the mudguards of the automobile to normally 'su-pportth-e 5ends of the said'bar in spaced relation to the treads i'ol 'thewheels adaptedwhenisaid bar encounters objects in the path of the I automobile to iri'c'tio n'ally engage the treads V dfth'e vth'eelshytheforce of the impact, and

' h'inged braces -to reinforce "the :medial 'por- 7 corresponding tiresyztdapted when the bar encounters obstructions on the roadway fto fri'c t ifonal'ly "engage the treads 1 and slow down i-the-speed otthe vehicle, and braces supported by the forward axle of 't'heivehide and secured to "the" medial portion "of 5 'said bar .to partially ahsorloth'eshocks when 7 the bareoll'ides witlrvar ious objects;

3. A fender for preventing human "or 7 "other bodies "from being run over and in jur bl iby automobiles, and like vehicles,

- coinprisii g a bar extended horizontally "across 'the front'wlree'ls "of the yeliicle and "the opposite of said bar, said mudguardsadaptedto flex under'the hnpact'of th-e striking a hody it'o cause said supjp orting mean'sf to frictiona'lly "engage the itrea'd's to "retardira'nd stopthe vehicle, and

tempos counters resistance of a persons body or other-"obstruction, and means secured to the forward axle of the vehicle and also to the medial portion of said bar to brace the bar.

In testimony whereofI afiix my signature.

JOHN C'OL'OMBO,

hinged braces secured "to 'thefinedi a1 portion I 59 *ofth'e tender to absorb f'the shocks "when the ifender strikes various objects.

ma "fender and braking mechanism adapted "for ;mounting upon the 7 "front end i p "of amau tomobilepr othervehi'c'le, compristo a few inches of "the :plane of th s roadway "and overlapping the'front Wheels, hangers secured to the front ends of'the imu-dguards andexten'ding downwardly and 0 "adjust-ablysecured" to the "ends of :said'bar,

"said "hangers coinciding with the "treads of the tires 4 o l? the wheels and adapted -to be 'iiexed, to'gether with the ends "Ofthe mudguards to engage i theztread and stopzor reime "the vehicle 'Whenever the fender en- 

